i8 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



noises of the gold-crests in the fir-trees, and the 

 midday shadows falling down the coloured sun- 

 light of the fallow field, one might be lulled, for a 

 time, into forgetfulness of the season. 



With little shelter except the sand-dunes, the 

 whin is known to flower as early as November. 

 Thenceforward it continues to make the desolate 

 places of the land rejoice, until the golfers come 

 out on the links, and the linties begin to build 

 inside. 



Daisy and whin have no other message than 

 the mildness of the air : it may be before or after 

 Christmas. Neither takes any part in Nature's 

 calendar, so that one can tell what time of year 

 it is. 



The earliest flower with a definite beginning, 

 whose appearance one knows when to look for, 

 is the colt's -foot. It is not much of a flower 

 in appearance : not unlike a rather indifferent 

 dandelion, and of the same order. It is also a 

 plant of somewhat evil omen, showing poverty 

 or neglect. But it is without a rival when, with 

 its * bright rays and disc of still warmer hue, it 

 touches up the faded grasses ; and where there is 

 no choice, one is not disposed to be critical. 



The spring note of the missel -thrush would 



